“Beth Pennington has no use for a houseboat.”

Charlie’s sister, Lucy, made a sound of disgust before continuing, “I don’t know why Abraham Steele left it to you and Beth in the first place. He knew you were divorced. And Beth’s afraid of water—or have you forgotten?”

Charlie didn’t want to admit there were few things about his ex-wife he had forgotten. “As soon as Beth comes home, she’ll sign her half over to me.”

“Beth’s coming back to Riverbend? I wonder why.”

Talk of Beth made Charlie’s breakfast stall on its journey to his stomach. He took a sip of coffee in an attempt to wash it down. “You sound like Mom—always trying to remind me Beth’s never going to be a part of my life again.” He pointed at her with a strip of bacon. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly losing sleep over Beth.”

“We’re just worried. She already hurt you once.”

Charlie was spared further discussion when a customer signaled for Lucy. He decided to make good his escape, but as he left the café, he glanced back to see his sister chatting with Evie Mazerik. Much as he wanted to think Lucy was talking to the cashier about work, Charlie had a pretty good idea they were discussing the one subject he didn’t want to share with the town. Beth.

Dear Reader,

Ask my dad about his youth and you’ll hear all about the guys from Thirty-third and Third Street in Minneapolis, just two blocks from the Mississippi River. They were the kids he played ball with, the ones he worked on cars with and with whom he sneaked down to the river for a swim. They were also the friends who introduced him to the girl he would marry.

Growing up on the Mississippi and hearing my dad’s tales, I felt an immediate affinity for the River Rats of Riverbend. There’s a mystique about life in a river town that has been part of American culture since Mark Twain plunked Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher down in Hannibal, Missouri, over a century ago.

I was delighted to be asked to participate in this series so that my very own River Rats, Charlie and Beth, could come to life and tell their story. Like my mom and dad, they fell in love as teenagers, but unlike my parents, they couldn’t make it last. Now, as adults, they have a second chance. I hope you enjoy their adventure on the river.

Sincerely,

Pamela Bauer

P.S. I enjoy hearing from readers. You can write to me c/o MFW, P.O. Box 24107, Minneapolis, MN 55424.

That Summer Thing
Pamela Bauer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For my wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and David Lingren

With a special thank-you to Courtney Burken

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Charlie Callahan: Contractor, temporary guardian and River Rat

Beth Pennington: Physician’s assistant, athletic trainer and Charlie’s ex-wife

Nathan Turner: Charlie’s fourteen-year-old ward

Abraham Steele: Town patriarch and bank president, recently deceased

Lucy Garvey: Charlie’s sister, Beth’s former best friend and waitress at the Sunnyside Café

Ed Pennington: Beth’s brother, lawyer and River Rat

Grace Pennington: Ed’s wife

Aaron Mazerik: Former bad boy, current basketball coach and counselor at Riverbend High

Lily Bennett Holden: Golden Girl, widow, artist and River Rat

Evie Mazerick: Cashier at the Sunnyside Café, Aaron’s mother

Dr. Julian Bennett: Town doctor, Lily’s father

Wally Drummer: Former basketball coach at Riverbend High, now retired

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER ONE

“YOU’RE UP BRIGHT and early this morning,” Lucy Garvey said to her brother, Charlie, as he sat on one of the counter stools at the Sunnyside Café. She reached for the coffee carafe and poured him a cup.

“You know what they say. The early bird catches the worm.” He took a sip of the coffee, needing the jolt of caffeine.

“You want the usual?”

He shook his head. “Just coffee this morning.”

She clicked her tongue. “Now what would your mother say if she heard that?” She turned to face the window separating the kitchen from the dining area. “Two eggs over easy, bacon and a side of hash browns.” She turned back to Charlie with a smug grin, then made her way down the counter to refill the cups of the other customers.

Charlie could only shake his head. Lucy was a lot like their mother. She had the same blue eyes, the same dimpled smile and a light dusting of freckles that his mother managed to hide with make-up, but Lucy didn’t bother to camouflage. Both thought he needed to be fed every time he walked into the diner. Anyone watching would have thought Lucy was the older sibling, the way she fussed over him.

“So what worm you trying to catch this morning?” Lucy asked when she finally made her way back to his section of the counter. “And how come you look like you’re going to either a wedding or a funeral?”

“I’m going over to West Lafayette.”

“To see your little brother?”

Nathan Turner wasn’t Charlie’s brother in the literal sense of the word. Four years ago Charlie had met the boy through the Big Brothers program. They’d been friends ever since and were more like father and son than brothers.

“He’s got himself in trouble. Threw some rocks and busted a few windows in what he thought was an abandoned building.”

“Doesn’t sound like a felony offense.”

“It’s not, but it’s enough to land him in juvenile court this morning.”

“Ah. Now I get the reason for the shirt and tie.”

He grimaced as he tugged on the silk knot, attempting to loosen its grip on his neck. “I hate these things.”

She leaned over the counter and pushed his hands away. “Here. Let me fix it for you.” As she straightened his tie, she asked, “So, are you going to go put in a good word for the kid?”

“I have to. I promised Amy that I’d always be there for Nathan, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“He hasn’t exactly made it easy for you, has he?” Satisfied with her work, she stepped back. “There. Isn’t that better?”

“Much, thanks.” Charlie took another sip of his coffee. “Nathan’s not a bad kid. He’s just had a lot to deal with for someone so young. Tomorrow it’ll be exactly one year since his mother died.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re going to see him. This past year can’t have been easy for him.”

“No, and I haven’t spent very much time with him since he moved to West Lafayette with his grandparents. I hope to change that.”

“You said he was coming to spend a couple of weeks with you this summer.”

He nodded. “Next month. I think his grandparents could use a break. He’s a handful.”

“Isn’t every teenage boy?”

Charlie smiled. “I know I was.”

“Yes, and look at you now.” A bell rang and she scurried over to the window to retrieve a plate of bacon and eggs. “So what kind of punishment will Nathan get?” she asked when she returned, setting the plate in front of him.

“That’s what I’m going to find out. I want to make sure the judge understands I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him out of trouble.”

She pulled a bottle of ketchup from her apron pocket and placed it on the counter. “It’d be a shame if he couldn’t visit you this summer.”

“If we’re lucky, that won’t happen.” He poured a liberal amount of ketchup onto his potatoes.

“You should enroll him in one of Aaron Mazerik’s sports programs while he’s here. Two weeks shooting hoops and hanging out with other boys his age would do him good. Speaking of basketball, I heard there’s going to be a pickup game Wednesday at the gym.”

“Yeah. A few of us got together after Abraham’s funeral and decided to shoot some hoops on a regular basis.”

She sighed. “I envy you. It’s been years since I was on a court.”

If it hadn’t been for an injury, Lucy would have gone on to play basketball in college. Unfortunately a torn ligament in her knee had ruined her chances for an athletic scholarship. Instead of going away to university, she’d stayed in Riverbend, married and started a family.

“Why don’t you stop by and play with us?” he suggested.

“As if the guys would want a woman crashing their night out,” she drawled.

“Hey, anyone would be nuts not to want you on their team. You were always better than I was.”

She punched his arm playfully. “I do believe brotherly love has caused your memory to fade. It was nice seeing so many of the River Rats at Abraham’s funeral, though. Weren’t you surprised by how many came?” The River Rats was the name given to the bunch of kids who used to hang out down by the Sycamore River.

He was surprised. Abraham Steele might have been the bank president and town patriarch, but he hadn’t exactly been the most popular man around. “Most of us showed up out of respect for Jacob.”

“I still can’t believe he wasn’t there. No matter what happened between him and his father, he should have been here for his father’s funeral and the reading of the will.” Charlie knew she was only saying what many folks in town were thinking. “Is it possible he doesn’t know his father died?”

He wrinkled his brow. “Could be.”

“People are wondering if maybe Jacob’s dead.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow. “People being you?”

“I’m not the only one.” The bell sounded again and she disappeared briefly to deliver breakfast to the waiting customers. When she returned she said, “It’s funny how things work out. Twenty years ago, who would have thought the richest man in town would die estranged from his son?”

“Or that he’d leave me a houseboat—or I should say, half of one.” Charlie shook his head. “When Nathan comes for his visit next month, we’re going to spend some time on the river, but first I have to work out a few details.”

“You mean Beth being part owner, don’t you?”

He took a sip of coffee. “I’m sure that’ll change. Ed says she wants to sell her half.”

“Didn’t I tell you she wouldn’t want it? She has no use for a houseboat.” Lucy made a sound of disgust. “I don’t know why Abraham left it to the two of you in the first place. He knew you two were divorced. And Beth never liked the river. She’s afraid of the water—or have you forgotten?”

Charlie didn’t want to admit that there were very few things about Beth Pennington he had forgotten. Only time and distance had allowed him not to think about them.

“Well, he did leave it to her, and now we have to figure out a way for me to become the sole owner. Ed’s working on it.”

Her sister frowned. “You did hire your own attorney, didn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Good. As much as I respect Ed, he is her brother.”

“Yes, and for that very reason he’ll do what he can to get this legal stuff taken care of as smoothly as possible. He knows our situation. As soon as Beth comes home, she’ll sign the necessary papers and that will be that.”

His words stilled Lucy’s hands, which had been busy rearranging the condiment tray. “Beth is coming back to Riverbend?” she demanded. “When?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How long is she staying this time?”

“I don’t know,” he said, which was the truth. Despite the divorce, he and his ex-wife’s brother had managed to remain friends by not talking much about Beth. As much as Charlie had been tempted to ask Ed the details concerning her visit, he had kept his questions to himself.

Lucy wouldn’t let the subject rest.

“I wonder why she’s even coming. She doesn’t want to be here. Not that I blame her. She’s made a new life for herself. She doesn’t fit in here anymore.”

Talk of Beth made Charlie’s breakfast stall on its journey to his stomach. The food seemed to stick in the middle of his chest. He took a sip of his coffee in an attempt to wash it down. “You’re sounding like Mom again.”

Lucy threatened to smack him with her order pad. “Oh, hush!”

“It’s true. Every time Mom hears that Beth is coming back to Riverbend, she starts saying things like, ‘Beth doesn’t belong here, she doesn’t like it here’—as if she needs to remind me that Beth’s never going to be a part of my life again.” He pointed at her with a strip of bacon. “In case you and Mom haven’t noticed, I haven’t exactly been losing sleep all these years over my ex-wife. I have a life.”

“Of course you do, and the reason Mom and I say those things is that we don’t want your life getting messed up by her again.”

“That’s not going to happen,” he stated firmly.

“I hope not. She was all wrong for you, Charlie.”

“I agree. Now can we drop the subject? I’m trying to enjoy my breakfast.”

She looked as if she wanted to continue the discussion, but the bell rang again, indicating more food hot off the grill.

When she had gone, Charlie took a bite of the whole-wheat toast. It tasted like cardboard. What little appetite he’d had when he’d come into the diner had disappeared, thanks to Lucy.

It wasn’t really fair to blame his sister, he knew. She hadn’t said anything he himself hadn’t been thinking the past week. Ever since he had learned that Abraham Steele had left the houseboat to him and his ex-wife, he’d been bothered by memories of Beth. He knew what his mother and sister said were true. Even Beth’s brother had voiced pretty much the same thing. Beth had made a life for herself that didn’t include Riverbend. Or him.

And that was fine. He didn’t want to share the houseboat with her, anyway. According to his attorney, there was no need for them to see each other. Papers could be signed without any contact between them.

“Are you thinking about her?” his sister’s voice interrupted his musings.

“Who?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

She gave him a disbelieving look as she refilled his coffee cup. “If you’re lucky, this visit will be no different from the others. It’ll be short, and neither one of us will be on her calling card.”

“Hearing you talk, no one would ever guess that you and Beth used to be best friends,” he said dryly.

“That was a long time ago. People change.” A spoon fell to the floor and she bent to retrieve it. “I don’t plan to see her and neither should you, especially not now.”

“Why not now?”

“You’re vulnerable.”

He looked at her over the rim of his cup, trying to hide his amusement. “I am?”

“I’m not stupid, Charlie. I know that men have certain…needs.”

He chuckled. “You think I’m going to fall for Beth because I’m lonely?”

“She’s always been able to do a number on you.”

This time he laughed out loud.

Lucy planted her hands on her hips. “I’m serious. I’m worried about you. Owning this boat with her…well, it could present all sorts of problems.”

“None I can’t handle,” he assured her.

Her sister harrumphed. “She hurt you once. What makes you think it won’t happen again?”

“I learned a long time ago that even if I could ride a white horse, they don’t make shining armor in my size.”

Charlie was spared Lucy’s reply when a customer signaled for her attention. He ate as much as he could of the breakfast and finished his coffee.

With luck he figured he could exit the diner with a simple wave in Lucy’s direction. But luck wasn’t with him. As he paid the cashier, his sister caught up with him.

“Here. Let me give you a hug for good luck at the hearing today.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.

“Thanks. By the way, I’m going to be gone for the weekend. After I get this stuff straightened out with Nathan, I’m going to Indianapolis.”

“Who’s in Indianapolis?” she asked, her eyes widening with interest.

“Not who. What. A trade show. Mitch Sterling and I are going.”

As he left the café he glanced back through the plate-glass windows and saw his sister chatting with Evie Mazerik, the cashier. As much as he wanted to think Lucy was talking to the older woman about work, Charlie had a pretty good idea the two were discussing the one subject he didn’t want to share with the town. Beth.

BETH PENNINGTON breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed the Illinois border into Indiana. At least twice during her trip from Iowa the engine light had come on, giving her cause to believe her car had mechanical problems. At least now she was close enough to Riverbend that she wouldn’t feel guilty about calling her brother, Ed, if she needed help.

As she left the gently rolling farmland behind and the brick buildings and treed streets of Riverbend came into view, she was surprised by the nostalgia that washed over her. Seeing her hometown sent a shiver through her—and not an unpleasant one.

Just the opposite, in fact, which was why it caught her off guard. She didn’t expect to feel good about coming home—although she really couldn’t call it home anymore. Once she’d crossed the Sycamore River she took a right, instead of proceeding straight through town, inexplicably wanting to drive through her old neighborhood.

She felt a catch in her chest at the sight of her childhood home. It was a two-story frame house, nothing fancy, but full of memories. Most of them good, but a few painful. Along the walkway day lilies bloomed in a profusion of orange, a legacy of her mother, who’d planted them only a few weeks before she’d died.

“You’re still here, Mom,” Beth murmured quietly. As a nine year old, she’d taken her grief out on any weed that dared to pop up in that garden, tugging at it with a vengeance and tossing it aside. Every spring and summer that followed, she’d nurtured those lilies with the same tenderness her mother had nurtured her, knowing that when the flowers bloomed, she’d feel her mother’s presence again.

As Beth glanced at the wooden porch, she imagined her father lying in his hammock, the newspaper propped on his belly. How many times had she and Lucy Callahan run past him in a hurry, slamming the screen door on their way inside, only to have her father holler, “Where’s the fire?”

Up the stairs to the second floor they’d race, eager to plop down on her double bed and dissect everything that had happened at school that day. Although Lucy was the same age as Beth, she’d been a year behind her in school because Beth was in the accelerated program. That hadn’t stopped them from being the best of friends, sharing their fears and disappointments, along with their hopes and dreams.

Automatically Beth’s eyes sought the Callahan house next door. Although her father had moved away, Beth knew that Lucy’s parents still lived there. Time was, she would have never dreamed of passing their house without stopping to say hello. They would have scolded her if she had.

A honking horn startled her out of her musings. She wasn’t twelve, she was thirty-one, and Mr. and Mrs. Callahan no longer regarded her as a daughter. There was no point in stopping, so she turned her attention to the street and drove away.

As she reached the heart of town, she saw that, although time had brought some changes to Riverbend, most of the commercial district looked the same. There was Steele’s bookstore and the Sunnyside Café, two of her favorite places. The Strand Theater still showed movies nightly, according to the marquis, and Beck’s was selling shoes right next door.

Beth continued down Hickory Street, suddenly impatient to see her brother and his family. When she reached his home, the excitement bubbling inside her had her hurrying out of the car and up the front steps.

“Omigosh! You’re here!” Grace Pennington’s mouth dropped open when she saw Beth standing on the front step. “Ed didn’t think you’d come.”

“Should I leave?” she joked.

“No, this is wonderful. Come on in.” After a warm welcoming hug, Grace ushered her sister-in-law inside.

As she stepped into the living room, Beth saw Grace’s parents seated on the sofa.

“Mom and Dad are here for the weekend,” her sister-in-law told her. The two seniors smiled and greeted Beth warmly.

“I should have called before I came,” Beth apologized. “I didn’t even think that you might have company.” For once in her life she’d made an impulsive decision and it looked as if it was the wrong one.

“We’re not company,” Grace’s father bellowed. “We’re family.”

“That’s right, and there’s always room for family,” Grace assured her, pulling Beth into the living room with a loving hand.

In their hearts maybe, Beth said to herself, but in her brother’s house there was only one guest bedroom, which was now occupied. Maybe she could bunk in with one of her nieces. She was about to make that suggestion when her niece Kayla came bouncing into the room followed by a set of twins.

“Hi, Auntie Beth,” said Kayla. “Look who Grandma and Grandpa brought with them. My cousins Erin and Jenny. They’re sleeping overnight, too.”

Beth’s eyes met those of her sister-in-law. “The more the merrier, right?” Grace said in her usual calm manner. “I bet you could use a cold drink. Why don’t you come into the kitchen with me. While I put the finishing touches on dinner, you can bring me up-to-date on everything that’s happened.”

“I feel really stupid,” Beth told her as she took a seat at the wooden table. “I should have called before I came.”

“Nonsense. We love surprises—especially ones that bring us our favorite people. Now, don’t even worry about the sleeping arrangements. We’ll figure something out after dinner.” She gave Beth’s arm a squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re here—Ed’s going to be delighted.”

“Where is my brother?”

“Working, but he’ll be home for dinner.” Grace opened the fridge and took out a pitcher of lemonade. She poured a large glass for Beth. “He’s going to be surprised. Now that July’s half gone, he thought you’d keep postponing your visit until the summer was over.”

“It was tempting,” Beth confessed, accepting the cold drink gratefully. “I can’t remember the last time I didn’t work over a summer break.”

“You work too hard, Beth. You and your brother have that in common.”

“Guess it’s in the genes,” she said lightly. “If I didn’t work I’d get bored.” She watched her sister-in-law tend to the pots on the stove. Despite having a houseful of kids and extra guests for dinner, she looked her usual calm self, not a hair out of place on her blond head, her makeup as fresh as if she’d just put it on.

“You won’t have to worry about being bored here. We’ll find plenty of things for you to do. The girls were counting on you coming and they’ve made plans to take you on picnics and a dozen other things.”

The girls were Beth’s nieces—Kayla, who was eight, Allison, five, and little Cierra, who was three. “They’re the real reason I’m here. It’ll be good to spend some time with them.”

Grace grinned. “They love being with you, but I have to warn you. They’ll run you ragged if you let them. No reason you can’t lie around and do nothing if that’s what you want.”

Beth had never been very good at doing nothing, which was why she said, “Ed mentioned that Dr. Julian Bennett might be looking for someone to help out at his clinic.”

“Are you thinking about working while you’re here?” Grace asked.

Beth shrugged. “It would only be part-time.”

Just then her brother walked in through the back door. “Hey! I thought I recognized that car out front.” He spread his arms to welcome his sister, who jumped up to give him a hug. “It’s good to see you, sis. You look great.” He pushed her back at arm’s length and let his eyes take her in.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she told him, returning his gaze with the same affection. “I see you cut your hair.” Ever since she could remember, his dark, wavy hair had reached the edge of his collar.

He rubbed a hand over his closely cropped brown hair. “Thought I should start looking like a thirty-five-year-old attorney instead of an aging rebel,” he said. “Besides, it’s easier this way.”

“I like it,” she stated sincerely.

“Has Grace been bringing you up-to-date with what’s been going on around here?” he asked, giving his wife an affectionate nuzzle on the neck as she stood next to the stove stirring a pot.

Grace replaced the lid on the pan and said, “I’ll let you do that, Ed. I’m going to set the dining-room table and get the kids washed up for dinner.”

“Let me help.” Beth started to rise to her feet, but Grace put a hand on her shoulder.

“You sit and visit with your brother,” she ordered, then grabbed a stack of plates and disappeared into the other room.

“So what’s wrong?” Ed asked as soon as they were alone.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Beth denied indignantly as he sat down across from her. “Have you forgotten that you invited me to come spend the summer with you?” She spread her arms. “So here I am.”

“It’s mid-July.”

“All right, so I missed the first part of summer.”

He smiled slyly. “You cost me a hundred bucks.”

“How’s that?”

“I bet Grace you wouldn’t come at all.”

Beth chuckled. “No wonder she was so happy to see me.”

“I’m happy to see you, too. You haven’t exactly been a regular visitor to Riverbend,” he reminded her.

“I have a very demanding job,” she said, then immediately added, “Or I should say I had a very demanding job.”

“Does that mean you’re still unemployed?”

She could see concern in her brother’s eyes and it touched her. Even though they were separated by distance, they had remained close over the years, and she had confided in him often about the difficulties she’d had getting along with the athletic director at the college for the past year. Ed had been a rock of support when she’d made the decision to quit her job, and he understood her anxiety about her uncertain future.

“Yes. I told them in the spring I wasn’t going to renew my contract,” she said, not wanting to rehash the betrayal she’d felt on not only a professional but a personal level. As an athletic trainer she had always put the well-being and safety of her students first. To have someone question her judgment, then overrule her decision to keep a player out of a game was a breach of professional conduct she couldn’t tolerate.

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried they might have coerced you into returning to your position.”

She shook her head. “That won’t happen. I think it’s probably a good time for me to take a break from working in college athletics, anyway. I plan to do some clinical work.”

“I bet Julian Bennett would find a permanent spot for you if you asked him.”

“My home is in Iowa,” she reminded him gently.

He smiled. “I know, but you can’t blame a brother for trying.”

Their conversation was halted as Grace announced it was time to eat. Dinner turned out to be a bit chaotic as the five little girls chattered and giggled their way through spaghetti and meatballs. By the time it was over, Beth was convinced that her sister-in-law had her hands full and didn’t need to worry about another houseguest, even if that guest was family.

She brought up the subject as she and Grace finished cleaning the kitchen. “I think I should check into a motel—just for the weekend.”

“You will not,” Grace stated emphatically.

“She will not what?” Ed asked, coming into the kitchen.

“Beth wants to go to a motel for the weekend.”

“You already have a full house,” Beth told her brother. “You don’t need me.”

“Yeah, we do. To help clean up,” Ed teased.

“I can do that without putting someone out of a bed,” Beth said.

“This is really bothering you, isn’t it?” Ed returned.

“Yes.” She set her dish towel aside. “You’re not going to be offended if I go to a motel, are you?”

“No,” her brother replied slowly, “but it doesn’t make any sense to pay for a room when you have a place of your own at your disposal.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“The Queen Mary. Thanks to Abraham Steele, it’s half yours.”

Beth shook her head. “Oh, no. I couldn’t sleep there.”

“Why not?”

“You need to ask?”

He gave her a look of disbelief. “Because of Charlie?”

She hated the way her stomach muscles tensed at the mention of her ex-husband. For fifteen years she’d been able to pretend that Charlie Callahan didn’t exist. But now, thanks to one legal document, the window to that corner of her memory was reopened. A beneficiary of Abraham Steele’s last will and testament, Beth was now in the uncomfortable position of being in a partnership with a man she hadn’t expected to ever see again.

“I told you I wanted to sell my half to him,” she said as calmly as possible.

“Yes, but right now that half belongs to you and you have a right to use it. Besides, Charlie’s not even going to be in Riverbend this weekend. I talked to him yesterday and he told me he was going out of town. Some builders trade show in Indianapolis.”

She chewed on her lower lip. Using the houseboat would solve the problem of where she was going to sleep tonight. And it would be nice to have a quiet room all to herself where she wouldn’t feel she was inconveniencing anyone.

“Why are you hesitating? You have every legal right to use the boat, Beth,” Ed assured her.

This wasn’t about her rights. It was about memories. Ever since she’d learned she’d inherited the houseboat, unwelcome images had begun creeping into her consciousness. Too much had happened on that houseboat, things best forgotten.

“I’m just not sure it’s a good idea, that’s all,” she told him. “I can go to a motel.”

“Trust me, Beth. The Queen Mary is nicer than any motel around here. Abraham completely remodeled it before he died.”

Which meant she might not even recognize the place. Maybe she could stay on the boat and not be plagued with memories of the past. “Don’t I need a key or something?”

“I have one.” Ed disappeared, only to return a few minutes later carrying a small key ring and a black leather-bound folder. “You’ll need this, too.”

“What is it?” she asked as he handed her the folder.

“All the information you’ll need to use the boat. I’ve already looked at it and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Basic stuff about the water and electricity. There are diagrams in there, as well.”

Seeing the amount of information in the folder added to Beth’s trepidation. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I don’t know the first thing about houseboats.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll go with you to Steele’s marina and answer any questions you have. Do you remember the way, or do you want me to drive and you can follow in your car?”

“I remember where it is, but I’m not sure I should drive my car.” She went on to tell him about the engine light coming on.

“Why don’t you leave it here and I’ll take a look at it in the morning?” he suggested. “I can drive you to the marina tonight and pick you up in the morning.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Are you sure you won’t stay with us?” Grace asked as they prepared to leave.

Beth was tempted to take her up on her offer, but she knew she couldn’t. Like it or not, the houseboat was the best place for her to sleep this weekend. She would just have to do what she’d done for the past fifteen years. Forget about that other long-ago night she’d spent on the Queen Mary.

Forget about Charlie Callahan.

CHAPTER TWO

JUST AS IT HAD BEEN all those years ago, the Queen Mary was docked at the small private marina just south of town. As Ed’s Jeep traveled across the gravel road with nothing but blackness on either side of it, Beth tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shiver. She couldn’t help but remember the last time she’d been down this road. She’d been with Charlie, on her way to what he’d promised would be a night she’d never forget. Little had either of them known how true those words would be.

“Here we are,” Ed announced, turning into a small parking lot. “If you wait a second, I’ll get a flashlight and light the way.”

She did as he suggested, remaining in the Jeep until he’d retrieved a portable lantern from the back. As she climbed out of the vehicle, he aimed the beam of light toward the ground. “Watch your step.”

Beth stayed close to him as he led her onto the pier and over to the houseboat. “So this is it?” she said, thinking that it didn’t look as big as it had when she’d been a teenager.

“Like I said, it’s changed since you were last here. Abraham spent a pile of dough remodeling it. Wait until you see all of the conveniences he added.”

Beth saw what her brother was talking about when they stepped inside. The salon had a white leather sectional sofa that allowed occupants a good view of the water, as well as the big-screen TV built into a cabinet against one wall. Next to it was a stereo system and a VCR. All the windows had custom-made deep blue drapes that matched the carpet beneath her feet.

“This is nicer than my apartment,” she said, admiring the oak cabinetry in the galley. She fingered the shiny black front of a microwave suspended beneath one of the cabinets.

“The guy had the bucks to spend and he liked nice stuff.”

Beth sat down on one of the high-backed stools next to the bar and twirled around. “It’s hard to believe all this was someone’s toy, isn’t it?”

“It’s your toy now,” he reminded her.

She shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he leave something like this to two people who haven’t seen each other in fifteen years?” The question had been nagging her ever since she’d received the letter from the attorney stating she was one of Abraham Steele’s beneficiaries.

He sighed. “Who knows what motivated him to leave any of the River Rats anything? Whatever the reasons for his bequests, the fact remains you own half this place.”

“Yeah, me, who never liked the river,” she stated dryly.

“Well, lucky for you, Charlie does.”

Beth knew all too well how much her ex-husband enjoyed the river. The memory of a fifteen-year-old boy splashing in the water surfaced in her mind. She had gone down to the river to look for Ed, who was supposed to be fishing with a couple of the other River Rats. To her surprise, the boys weren’t dangling their lines in the water. They were skinny-dipping.

There had been four naked bodies frolicking in the river that day, but Beth’s eyes had only noticed one. Charlie’s.

At thirteen, she’d had a limited knowledge of male anatomy, gained mainly from science textbooks and baby-sitting ten-month-old Billy Benson. The shock of seeing a nude teenage boy had frozen her to the spot.

She wasn’t sure how long she had stood there staring at him, but as she raced back to her house on wobbly legs, she knew that from that moment on, she could no longer regard Charlie as the boy next door, the boy who was good friends with her older brother, Ed, the boy who walked her and Lucy to the school bus stop. Things had changed.

To the rest of Riverbend he might still look like her second big brother, but to Beth he had become something more. Every time he smiled at her, she’d felt warm inside, and when he casually touched her, she’d gotten all tingly. It had been the beginning of an infatuation that would last through high school.

She shook her head, hoping she could toss the memories aside as easily as she flipped back her hair. “He must be remarried by now.”

“Do you really want to know the answer to that question?” Ed asked with a lift of one eyebrow.

Beth didn’t. For fifteen years she’d avoided asking any questions about Charlie Callahan. Ignorance had been bliss while living in another state. But now she was in Riverbend and she needed a few answers. Only a few.

“I think I should know his marital status, since we’ve inherited a boat together, don’t you?”

Ed sighed. “All right. He hasn’t remarried.”

So he was single. The rumor she’d heard a couple of years ago hadn’t been true. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her jangled nerves. “Maybe I should just give him my share of the boat. It’s not like I will have any use for this place after this weekend.”

“Now, that would be foolish.” He spread his hands. “Look around you. Abraham Steele wanted you to have a share in all of this. As your brother and your lawyer, I can’t let you give it away. Especially if the only reason you’re doing it is to avoid a confrontation with your ex-husband.”

“I’m not,” she fibbed. “I just don’t want the hassle of dealing with this right now.”

“You get bequeathed a boat we used to call the floating palace and you don’t want it.” He shook his head in disbelief.

She looked about the place in bewilderment. “What would I do with something like this?”

Ed shrugged. “Take off on a river adventure?”

“No, thank you. I’d probably get seasick. Remember that time Dad took us out on Lake Michigan when we were kids?”

“Everyone was a little queasy on that trip because the waters were rough. You won’t have to worry about any motion sickness tonight. You’re docked. This boat isn’t going anywhere.” He pulled open the door to the built-in refrigerator. “This is on, but it looks like there’s nothing inside but a few cans of mineral water. Should I take you to a convenience store so you can pick up a few things?”

She shook her head. “It’s all right. As long as there’s mineral water, I’ll be fine. Besides, if I have food here, you might forget to come get me.”

“I won’t forget,” he assured her. “Do you need a tour of the boat, or do you remember where everything is from all those parties the River Rats had here?”

“I didn’t party with the River Rats, or have you forgotten?”

“Ah, yes. You were always afraid we were going to get caught sneaking onto the boat, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t officially a River Rat.”

“No one was officially a River Rat, Beth. You lived in the neighborhood and you hung out with the rest of us.” A faraway look came into his eyes. “Gosh, we had some great parties on this boat. Do you suppose Abraham knew what went on when he was out of town?”

“Probably.”

“Jacob never got into any trouble—at least none he told us about.”

The image of a fair-haired boy popped into Beth’s head. Jacob Steele had been the unofficial leader of the River Rats, the golden boy of Riverbend. Even though he was Abraham’s son, he wasn’t allowed to bring any friends onto the boat that Abraham considered his private retreat. That hadn’t stopped the River Rats from using it when he was out of town.

“That’s another thing that bothers me about this bequest,” she told him. “Besides the fact that we’ve been divorced for fifteen years and shouldn’t be sharing anything, Charlie and I shouldn’t get the boat. It should go to Jacob. He was Abraham’s son.”

“A son who didn’t even come home for his father’s funeral,” Ed reminded her.

“Whatever happened between him and his father must have hurt him deeply. Jacob’s not the kind of guy to turn his back on his family without good cause.”

“None of the River Rats are, Beth. Sure, we got into a few scrapes when we were growing up, but we were all pretty good kids.”

“Abraham must have thought we were special. He included all of us in his will,” she said, running a finger along the shiny countertop.

He chuckled. “Yes, I now have a vintage 1957 Chev and you have half a houseboat.”

“At least your gift will fit in your garage. I don’t have a lake or a river for mine.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re spending the rest of the summer here.” He waved a hand at her. “Come. I’ll show you a few things.”

She followed him around the cabin and listened as he explained the water system and electrical circuits. “If you get too warm and don’t want to open the windows, you can turn on the air-conditioning. The control’s next to the instrument panel,” he said, slipping into the captain’s seat to point out the various gauges.

“For someone with no experience of houseboating, you sure seem to know an awful lot.” She eyed him suspiciously.

He gave her a sheepish look. “I have a little experience,” he admitted. “I was here with Charlie one day recently and we took a ride on the river.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Without asking me?”

“I only went because I wanted to protect your interest. It was my duty as your legal representative.”

Beth thought it was more likely that he went along because he wanted to spend time with Charlie. She didn’t tell him that, however. She might not be able to stop her brother from remaining friends with her ex-husband, but she certainly didn’t have to hear the details of their friendship.

“The master bedroom’s in here,” Ed told her, opening a door on the other side of the bathroom.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to show me.” The last thing she wanted was to look inside the room where she and Charlie had made love—even if it had been remodeled since.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“Aren’t there beds below?”

He led her down a small flight of steps to the lower cabin, which had two bunks, both covered by brightly patterned quilts in a kaleidoscope of colors. There was also a small cedar chest and a built-in wardrobe.

“This isn’t quite as fancy as the master bedroom,” Ed commented as she opened a narrow closet.

“No, but it’s cozier.” She sat down on one of the beds to test its firmness. “I think I’ll feel less like an intruder down here.”

“You have every right to be here, Beth,” Ed stated firmly.

“So you keep telling me, but for whatever reason, I still feel like I’m sneaking onto a houseboat that’s off-limits.” She stretched her arms over her head, then sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired. What time should I expect you in the morning?”

“How about if you give me a call when you wake up? That way if you want to sleep in a bit later than usual, it won’t matter. You have your cell phone, right?”

She nodded. “It’s in my purse.”

“Good. Now lock the door behind me and get a good night’s sleep.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, said good-night, then headed back to his Jeep.

After twelve hours in the car and with a headache throbbing in her temples, Beth wanted to follow her brother’s orders, but ever since she’d stepped on the boat, she hadn’t been able to shake the uneasiness that lingered from her past. Even though remodeling had made the Queen Mary barely recognizable, it was still the place where she’d made what had turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life.

She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to give in to the temptation to remember that night fifteen years ago. She was tired, she needed sleep, and she would not let the past haunt her. Not now. Not here.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and put an Enya CD in the stereo system, allowing the soothing sounds to flow around her. And just in case Enya failed to lull her to sleep, she pulled a bottle of pain-relief tablets from her purse. When she opened the refrigerator to get a can of mineral water, she saw one lone beer on the bottom shelf. Michelob. Charlie’s favorite.

Seeing that can was a reminder that he had been on the houseboat only a few days earlier. He’d walked barefoot on the carpet that was beneath her feet, stood on this very spot with the door open, contemplating the contents of the refrigerator.

“We’re not trespassing, Beth,” he’d told her when she’d expressed reservations about being on the boat the night of the spring formal. “Abraham said I could use the place if I wanted. That’s why I have a key.”

She remembered the smile on his face, the gleam of desire in his eyes as he’d pulled her along the wooden pier. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get her to spend the night with him on the boat. Little had she known that that one night would bring so many changes to her life.

Her dress had cost a small fortune—a sapphire-blue satin off-the-shoulder gown that had swished when she walked. And after two hours at Clip Curl and Dye, she had never felt more confident. One of the stylists had managed to make her short boyish curls look glamorous and chic, her makeup as professional as a cover girl’s. But it was the glitter that Beth had loved. It had dusted her bare skin in a most enchanting way.

She remembered the look on Charlie’s face when he’d picked her up for the dance. She’d fantasized a guy looking that way at her—as if she were the only girl in the world for him.

Then her dad had barked, “Don’t forget she’s only sixteen, Charlie.”

She could have died of embarrassment. Because she’d been accelerated, she was the youngest in her class. All the other girls were seventeen and eighteen. Academically it had been easy fitting in with the older girls, but socially she’d had problems. Having eighteen-year-old Charlie Callahan as her date for the dance was her chance to be accepted, and she didn’t need her father to throw a bucket of cold water on the evening.

Not that he really could have. Charlie made sure she had a night she’d never forget. Any worries she’d had about what people would think were cast aside when they were voted the cutest couple at the dance. At midnight, when the chaperons had chased everyone home, Charlie hadn’t taken her to the pizza party at Josh Parker’s house. Instead, the two of them had gone down by the river for a moonlight picnic.

Beth knew now they should have gone to the party with the rest of their classmates. As her father used to say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. If they hadn’t been alone in the moonlight, they would never have kissed, and if they hadn’t kissed, they wouldn’t have touched, and if they hadn’t touched, they wouldn’t have…She shook her head, not wanting to think about that night.

She wouldn’t think about it. She closed the door quickly, leaving those memories in the cold. She opened the can of mineral water and poured its contents into one of the crystal goblets she’d found in the cupboard. Then she shook two of the pain-relief tablets from the bottle. They were extra strength, with an additional ingredient to induce sleep.

It was time for her to stop worrying about what she would encounter in Riverbend. She knew that if she took the pills, she’d be a bit groggy in the morning, but she didn’t care. At least her headache would be gone and she wouldn’t toss and turn in an unfamiliar bed. With a long gulp of the sparkling water, she swallowed the tablets.

Then she turned up the volume so the Enya music could be heard in the cuddy. As she lay flat on her back staring up at the dark ceiling, she closed her eyes and waited for the music to calm her active mind.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about Charlie. When she closed her eyes, she saw him. Shirtless. Drinking a beer. Staring at her with that look that used to make her feel as if she was standing on the edge of a steep cliff. The last thought she had before she fell asleep was to wonder why he had never remarried.

“JEEZ, CHARLIE! The sun’s not even up yet!” fourteen-year-old Nathan Turner grumbled as he carried his duffel bag out to the pickup.

“Best time of the day. Wait until you see what sunrise looks like on the water.”

“I only got five hours of sleep last night. Isn’t there a law against dragging kids out of their beds without the proper amount of sleep?” the boy muttered belligerently.

“Not when it’s the kid’s fault because he stayed up half the night playing video games,” Charlie tossed back at him.

Nathan was uncharacteristically uncooperative as they loaded the pickup with fishing gear and supplies. He was not happy to be up so early. Actually he hadn’t been happy since Charlie had seen him sitting in the courtroom yesterday morning.

“Hey! Be careful with the bag. There are eggs inside,” Charlie said as the teen tossed a paper sack of groceries into the truck as if it was a bag of garbage.

By the time they were ready to leave, Nathan’s squinty-eyed frown had become a stubborn scowl. Charlie was losing patience. “Look, I realize this is earlier than you’re used to getting up—”

“No kidding.”

Charlie ignored the sarcasm. “But we only have two days to spend on the houseboat. If we wait until noon to go out, we’ll miss the best part of Saturday. You do want to take the houseboat on the river, don’t you?”

The only response Nathan gave was a grunt, but to Charlie it sounded like a positive grunt, which he took as a good sign.

“It should be a perfect weekend to be on the river,” Charlie said cheerfully. “If it gets as hot as they’re predicting, you’ll be able to swim right off the back of the boat.”

Mention of the houseboat had Nathan’s scowl softening, although he was reluctant to let Charlie see. He turned away, bunching his sweatshirt into a ball and propping it between his head and the window to use as a pillow.

Charlie didn’t say anything, but continued driving. It was hard to believe that this disgruntled teen with the streak of blue in his hair and the gold ring through his nose was the same clean-cut kid he had been a surrogate parent to for the past four years. What had happened to the even-tempered, happy-go-lucky Nathan?

His grandfather blamed it on the group of boys Nathan called his friends, but his grandmother insisted the moodiness had more to do with puberty. Charlie could see the obvious signs of adolescence. Nathan’s voice had changed, he’d grown four inches in four months, and it wouldn’t be long before a razor would be needed to take off the light coating of peach fuzz on his chin. Charlie was inclined to think they were probably both right, but suspected the boy’s rebellious behavior also had a lot to do with losing his mother.

After several minutes of jostling and fidgeting, Nathan said, “I don’t see why I couldn’t have taken a shower before we left.”

A shower? This from the kid who had barely raised a wet cloth to his face, let alone taken a shower, the last time he’d stayed with Charlie.

“We’re going down the river, not to the video arcade,” Charlie answered. “It’ll be like that camping trip we took last summer. Remember? Guys are allowed to be slobs on camping and fishing trips, as long as there aren’t any women around.”

His reasoning brought another sound of disgust from his temporary ward. “I hate that stupid judge. If it weren’t for him, I’d be home in my own bed.”

It bothered Charlie that Nathan didn’t want to be with him in Riverbend. In the past he’d complained about there never being enough time for the two of them to be together. Now that the judge had ordered him to spend six weeks in Riverbend, Nathan acted as if it was a punishment, not a reprieve.

Maybe that was why Charlie’s voice was a bit harsh as he said, “You’re wrong, Nathan. The reason you’re not home is that you chose to use someone else’s property for target practice.”

“I said I didn’t try to break those windows, but nobody believed me. Just because I hang out with the BDs, everyone wants to think I’m a juvenile delinquent,” he muttered sullenly.

“Who are the BDs?”

“What do you care?”

“Because I’m your buddy. Or have you forgotten?”

That took a bit of the sting out of his attitude. “They’re the bad dudes.”

Charlie frowned. “And you’re one of them?”

“I want to be. And I was just getting to where they would accept me when you had to drag me here.”

“I didn’t drag you here,” Charlie refuted. “You were ordered here by the judge because of something you did, not because of what I did. And I really don’t think being in a gang is a good idea.”

“They’re not a gang, just some guys who hang around together. They’re my friends and they’d do anything for me. I can count on them.” The defensiveness in his tone made Charlie uneasy.

“You can count on me,” he said firmly.

Nathan gave a snort of disbelief. “That’s why you’re making me get up with the cows.”

“You mean chickens,” Charlie said, trying to inject a little humor into their discussion.

Again Nathan turned toward the door and tried to position his head against his makeshift pillow. Charlie gave him his space and kept quiet.

That didn’t stop him from thinking about the teenager. Had he made a mistake sticking his neck out to help the kid? When he’d left for West Lafayette yesterday morning, he hadn’t expected to be returning with the fourteen year old in tow. It was one thing to have Nathan spend two weeks with him; quite another to have him spend half the summer.

Ever since Nathan had gone to live with his grandparents, distance had prohibited them from spending much time together. Until yesterday Charlie had thought that they had a pretty good relationship. Now he could see that the two of them had grown apart, and it saddened him, because at one time they had been like father and son.

As the truck ate up the miles, Charlie thought back to those days. He had just turned thirty, and at his surprise birthday party he’d been warned by his friends that the big three-O could cause a man to change his entire way of thinking.

Charlie had laughed and told them how wrong they all were. The reason he was still single and doing all right was that he worked hard Monday through Friday and made the most of his weekend playtime. The latter had been accomplished mainly with women who weren’t looking for the house with the picket fence, two kids and a dog.

But shortly after his birthday he’d found himself reflecting on his life and came to the conclusion that something was missing. Although he wasn’t about to change his life-style, he did want to do something different. When one of his friends mentioned that the local Big Brothers program was having trouble finding volunteers, Charlie decided to answer the call.

He could still remember that first day he’d met Nathan. He’d expected that things would be awkward, that Nathan would be a bit reserved, maybe defensive about not having a father. He wasn’t. He was just like any other kid and reminded Charlie of himself at that age. So full of energy. So eager to learn everything he could about the world around him. Unlike Charlie, who’d had a great relationship with his father, Nathan had never known his dad.

They soon became best buddies, and before long, Nathan’s mother, Amy, joined them on their outings. They were the closest thing to a family that Nathan had ever known, and it wasn’t long before he was asking Charlie if he could call him Dad. Charlie saw no reason he couldn’t, for he truly did feel like a father to Nathan.

Charlie knew that Nathan harbored the hope that one day he would marry his mother and become his real father. For Charlie, who’d never expected to entertain such a thought, it had come as a shock when he’d realized Nathan’s idea wasn’t so outrageous. He had no reason not to believe that, in time, he and Amy might find happiness together.

But then one night Nathan called to tell him his mother was sick—real sick. Charlie went over to see what was wrong. It didn’t take a doctor to see that she was seriously ill. He rushed her to the hospital, where she died two days later from bacterial meningitis.

In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Nathan’s grandparents became his legal guardians and took him home with them to West Lafayette. Charlie knew that Amy’s folks were good people and would give Nathan the kind of family he needed—something he couldn’t do without Amy.

Charlie vowed to remain a part of Nathan’s life, acting as a father figure whenever he could. Which wasn’t often. Construction was booming in Riverbend, forcing everyone at Callahan Construction to work long hours.

No matter how hard Charlie tried to make his visits with Nathan special, he could feel the bond between them weakening. Nathan no longer had that childlike eagerness in his voice when they talked, and gone was his enthusiasm for “hanging out” in Riverbend.

Charlie glanced at the boy beside him and felt a wave of guilt. He hadn’t kept his promise to Amy. He’d let work and the fact they lived in different towns keep him from being the father figure he should have been. Maybe the judge’s ruling was exactly what they both needed to put their relationship back on track, to help them reestablish the bond that had allowed Nathan to call him Dad.

“We’re here,” Charlie announced as the truck came to a stop next to the pier where the Queen Mary was docked. Dawn was brightening the sky, changing it from darkness to deep purple, which was the precursor to a beautiful sunrise. Charlie hoped nature’s beauty would lighten Nathan’s mood.

It didn’t.

As the boy awoke from his nap, he said, “Why couldn’t we just stay home?”

Charlie had to bite his tongue. “What do you think of that sky?” He nodded toward the horizon. “Isn’t that a beaut?”

“‘Red sky in morning, sailors take warning,’” Nathan recited ominously.

Charlie said, “We’re not sailors. We’ll have a roof over our heads should it rain, and an engine to get us to shore.”

Nathan mumbled something under his breath as he fumbled with his seat belt.

“There she is. The Queen Mary,” Charlie boasted as they climbed out of the pickup. “How’s that for a floating palace?”

Nathan shrugged. “It’s all right, I guess.”

Charlie knew the boat was more than all right, no matter what the surly teenager thought. “Come on. The sooner we get this stuff onboard, the sooner we’ll be cruising on the river,” he said, lifting a duffel bag from the back of the truck.

Emptying the truck caused less grumbling than loading it had, giving Charlie hope that even a teenager wasn’t immune to the lure of the river. They left the fishing rods and tackle box on the deck, then carried their duffel bags and groceries into the main cabin. Nathan said nothing other than to heave a sigh when Charlie told him where to set the food.

Although the teenager tried to pretend he wasn’t impressed by the comforts on board the boat, Charlie didn’t miss the way Nathan eyed the entertainment center. “Not bad for a prison, eh?”

The teenager shrugged. “If you’d told me there was a TV, I would have brought my video games along.”

“We’re going to be too busy having fun. We won’t have time for TV.” Charlie didn’t mention that he’d already decided to rent a Nintendo and some other games after the weekend.

“Who listens to this crap?” Nathan asked, lifting a CD case from the entertainment center.

Charlie glanced at the Enya CD. “It’s not mine. Must have been Abraham Steele’s or one of his guests’. Now make yourself useful and put away those groceries, while I get the boat ready.”

Nathan wandered over to the captain’s console. He plunked himself down on the chair and examined the controls. “Am I going to be able to drive?”

“I may let you take the wheel once we’re away from the dock,” Charlie answered, pulling the cord that opened the blue draperies across the front of the boat.

“How far up the river are we going?”

“Here. I’ll show you.” Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “This is a marine map. Shows all the hazards on this section of the river. It’s important that we keep it handy at all times.”

He spread the map out on the console, noting the way Nathan studied it curiously. It was the first time the kid had actually shown any interest in their adventure. Maybe it would turn out to be a good weekend, after all, Charlie thought.

“We’re going to stop right about here,” he told Nathan, pointing to a hook in the river. “As soon as you’ve put away the groceries, I’ll give you a lesson in navigation, all right?”

Again the shoulders shifted, but the hostility was gone from the teenager’s face. “Can I use the bathroom, or do I have to wait until the engine’s running?”

“No, go ahead. Flush away,” Charlie told him, indicating the door to the head. While Nathan was inside, Charlie checked the fuel gauge and water supply.

He was on his knees connecting a wire that had come loose on the control panel when he heard Nathan say, “Your girlfriend left something in the bathroom.”

Charlie straightened. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” From the silly smile on Nathan’s face, he knew that it was something the teen found amusing.

He went to see for himself. A bright red bra hung on the doorknob. The first thought that crossed Charlie’s mind was that Mitch Sterling had had a woman onboard when he’d used the boat last week.

“Well, that sly old…” he began, then noticed Nathan’s rapt attention. “Must be from a previous guest,” Charlie said, snatching the bra from the doorknob and shoving it into the vanity drawer. “Follow me.”

He opened the door to the master bedroom and tossed his duffel bag onto the bed. “I’ll sleep here.”

“Where do I sleep?” Nathan asked.

“You have two options. One is the cuddy below. There are two beds down there. It’s private, though a little cramped. The other is to use the sofa bed.”

Nathan looked at the white leather sofa. “You mean it’s one of those you pull out and have to make every night?”

Charlie nodded. “You’d probably be more comfortable below.” Nathan glanced down the stairway. “It is rather dark down there. The windows are more like portholes.”

He could see the boy considering the possibilities—downstairs in the cuddy with little natural light, or on a sofa in the salon with a big-screen TV. He had no doubt that the teenager would opt for the sofa. That way he could watch television as he lay in bed.

“I’ll sleep up here,” he said sullenly, as if it was a sacrifice to sleep on a sofa bed.

“All right. That’s fine with me. Now get that food in the refrigerator and I’ll prepare us for departure. We need to disconnect the shore cable and switch over to the generator before we leave.”

Nathan shoved cans into the cupboard, acting as if putting away the groceries was some sort of penance. Charlie left him alone and went off to tend to the tasks that needed to be done before launching the boat.

A short while later he announced, “We’re ready. We can either navigate from in here or go up to the flybridge. What do you think?”

Nathan shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Then we’ll go up to the flybridge.” Charlie headed for the steps leading to the upper portion of the houseboat. Nathan followed.

Once on top, Charlie stood behind the control panel. “We’ll crank this baby’s engine and get moving.” He turned the key in the ignition, producing a low hum.

“It’s pretty quiet, isn’t it?” Nathan said as the engine sprang to life.

“She purrs like a kitten,” Charlie agreed. “You ready?” Nathan nodded and Charlie slowly maneuvered the boat away from the dock.

The sky had become a vivid pink, thanks to the dawn’s paintbrush. “See what I mean about the sunrise?” Charlie commented as the sky’s resplendent colors reflected on the river’s surface.

“It’s kinda spooky. It’s almost like the air is painted pink,” Nathan said, losing his insolence long enough to be a bit awed by nature.

Charlie understood his sentiment. “When I’m in a boat this time of morning, I feel a little bit like I’m on a mystical journey. Better enjoy the show before it disappears. It’s already starting to fade.”

“I’m hungry. What’s there to eat?”

Charlie smiled. Beneath the streaked blue hair and nose ring lurked a regular kid. “As soon as we get to our fishing spot, we’ll anchor and I’ll cook us some breakfast. Until then, why don’t you go down and get yourself a doughnut and a glass of milk?”

“I’d rather have a soda and some chips.”

“Whatever,” Charlie mumbled, and watched the boy disappear into the cabin. His last thought as the blue head bobbed out of sight was that it was going to be a long six weeks. A very long six weeks.

BETH WASN’T SURE what woke her. Maybe it was the sound of a motor humming in the background. One of the neighbors mowing the lawn perhaps. As she opened her eyes, however, she realized that she wasn’t in her own bed or even in one of her brother’s. She was on the houseboat. Her houseboat.

And it was swaying ever so slightly, something her brother had told her wouldn’t happen. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing ever so carefully, worried that she might experience a bit of motion sickness. To her relief she didn’t.

Thinking the wind must be responsible for the slight sway of the boat, she reached for the curtain behind the bed and pulled it aside to look out the rectangular porthole. To her surprise, there was a rather large expanse of river between her and the shore. She padded across the room to the opposite side of the boat and lifted the curtain on the other narrow window.

A gasp escaped her as she realized that the boat was no longer at the pier. Had the wind become so strong that it had broken loose from its moorings? Suddenly her brain put two and two together. The hum of an engine, no pier in sight. The boat was moving!

Her heart beating rapidly, she scrambled up the steps to the salon. Seated on the white leather sofa with the TV remote in his hand was a teenage boy. He wore baggy carpenter jeans and his shirt was open, revealing an expanse of flesh. He was at the gawky stage—caught somewhere between man and child—with long, lanky limbs and an awkwardness only time would eliminate.

“Who are you and why is this boat moving?” Beth demanded.

He looked as surprised by her appearance as she was by his. “I’m Nathan. What are you doing on my dad’s boat?”

His dad’s boat? “This is not your father’s boat. It’s my boat and I don’t know what makes you think you can just take off with it.”

“We didn’t know you were on it,” he said weakly, then, gaining his courage, added, “You shouldn’t be on it. It belongs to my dad.”

Fear caused Beth’s skin to prickle. “I’m going to get my cell phone and call the police. You just can’t get on someone else’s houseboat and take it for a ride.” She was about to head back down to the cuddy when she heard a man’s voice.

“Nathan, I could use your help. Come on out here.”

The voice was vaguely familiar. Beth’s stomach plunged. “What’s your father’s name?”

Before the boy could answer, the man called out, “Nathan! Did you hear me? Get out here. Now!”

When the boy would have moved, Beth raised a hand and used her schoolteacher voice to say, “You stay right here and answer my question. What is your father’s name?”

“You’re going to be in big trouble, lady, when my dad finds out you stowed away on his boat,” the teenager said, getting bolder by the minute. “This is private property and…” He stopped, his eyes on the sliding door behind her.

By now Beth’s heart was in her throat. She swallowed with difficulty, then turned to see a man step into the cabin. He was big, brawny and bare-chested. Dark sunglasses hid his eyes and his jaw was un-shaven.

Beth didn’t need the boy to tell her his father’s name. It was Charlie Callahan, her ex-husband, looking lean, tanned and even more attractive than he had fifteen years ago.

She had often thought about what they would say to each other when they did finally meet again. Now she knew. There was no, “Hello, Beth, how are you?” No, “It’s good to see you.”

The first words out of Charlie’s mouth were angrily uttered. “What the hell are you doing here?”

CHAPTER THREE

CHARLIE HAD EXPECTED the day would come when he’d meet Beth again. What he hadn’t foreseen was the turmoil of emotion it would create in him. Seeing her standing in front of him, looking as if she’d just crawled out of bed, made him feel as if someone had given him a stiff punch to the gut.

She looked as shocked to see him as he was to see her. Folding her arms across her chest, she demanded, “What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

Before Charlie could answer her question, Nathan stepped forward. “I tried to tell her it’s your boat, Dad, but she wouldn’t listen. She must have stowed away in the cuddy.”

Charlie didn’t miss the fact that he had once more become “Dad” to the teenager. Or that Nathan showed signs of a vivid imagination. He was looking at Beth as if she could be someone on the run.

“I’m not a stowaway. This happens to be my boat,” Beth stated in a tone that left no doubt that she didn’t appreciate Nathan’s implication that she’d done something illegal.

Nathan looked at Charlie. “Her boat? I thought you said this was your boat.”

“It is—at least, half of it is. The other half is Beth’s. Nathan, this is Beth. Beth, Nathan.” He made the introduction as brief as possible, hoping to avoid the questions that would result if Nathan learned Beth was his ex-wife.

He’d never told the teenager he’d been married. There’d never been any reason to, and until just a few moments ago, it had been a nonissue in his life. Four weeks of marriage hardly qualified as a treasured memory. His summer thing with Beth—which was how his buddies had referred to it—felt as if it had happened in another lifetime.

Only now he was reminded that it had happened. He watched Nathan extend his hand to her, revealing the manners Amy had instilled in him as a child. “How do you do.”

Beth took his hand cautiously, eyeing Charlie suspiciously as she returned Nathan’s greeting.

“You haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” Charlie said to her, trying not to notice that, instead of short curls, her dark hair now hung in long kinky waves that fell to her shoulders in a rather tantalizing way.

“Obviously the same thing you’re doing—using my property.”

He didn’t care for the tone of her voice. Or the fact that he was responding to her scantily clad body. She wore skimpy pajamas made to resemble a T-shirt and shorts—very short shorts. Although she was still slender, there were curves that hadn’t been there fifteen years ago. She’d filled out in all the right places, and Charlie had to force his eyes away from her figure to her face.

She moved over to the windows and asked, “Where’s the pier?”

“In Riverbend.”

“We’re moving?” She pressed a hand to her stomach.

“No, we’re anchored.”

“This boat is supposed to be docked at Riverbend. You had no right to take it—or me—anywhere,” she said haughtily.

“Do you honestly think I would have taken it anywhere if I’d known you were onboard?” he countered. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at Ed’s place?”

“Because his guest room is occupied. Grace’s parents are here for the weekend.”

“So you came here to sleep?” he asked in disbelief.

“And why is that so hard for you to believe?”

“You’re not exactly crazy about the water.”

“It didn’t feel as if I was on the water when the boat was moored at the marina. Are you sure we’re anchored?” she asked, her hand flying to her midsection once more.

“We are.” She looked unusually pale, prompting Charlie to ask, “You’re not going to be sick, are you?”

“No, but I need to use the bathroom. Excuse me.” She left in a hurry, slamming the door as she disappeared into the head.

“What’s she doing on a houseboat if she gets seasick?” Nathan asked.

“She said she wasn’t sick,” Charlie answered.

“She looked like she was gonna hurl.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Charlie said, although he really wasn’t sure of anything concerning Beth at this point in his life. When several minutes had passed and she still hadn’t emerged from the head, he went over to the door and knocked. “Beth, are you okay in there?”

“Yes.” The response was muffled. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“For Pete’s sake, Charlie, I said yes, didn’t I?” she snapped.

Maybe she’d changed physically, but emotionally she was still the same old Beth, hating it whenever anyone showed concern for her. She still didn’t want to admit that she needed anybody.

When he returned to the salon, Nathan had flopped down onto the leather sofa, sprawling in the way only a teenager could. “Does this mean we’re going back to Riverbend?” His expression brightened.

“There are places between here and there where she could get off the boat,” Charlie answered, which caused the sullen look to return to Nathan’s face.

“Wait a minute. You’re not dumping me off like some unwanted cargo,” Beth said from behind him.

He turned and saw that she had come out of the bathroom. Her face was still pale, but she looked ready to do battle with him, hands on her hips, eyes flashing.

“I’m not going to dump you anywhere,” Charlie told her.

“No, you’re going to take me back to Riverbend.” It was more of a command than a statement of fact. “Ed’s expecting me to be at the marina, not in the middle of a cornfield.”

“I wouldn’t leave you in a cornfield. I just thought that if the motion of the boat makes you feel sick, you might want to get off upstream. I’m sure Ed wouldn’t mind if he had to drive a little farther to get you.”

“I told you I’m fine,” she insisted. “And you haven’t told me what you’re doing here. Ed said you were at some trade show this weekend.”

“My plans changed,” he said, avoiding Nathan’s eyes.

“So you decided to use the boat without asking me?”

“I don’t recall you asking me if you could spend the night onboard,” he retorted. Again the look on Nathan’s face reminded Charlie that he needed to be careful what he said. He didn’t want the fourteen year old to see him in a shouting match with his ex-wife.

“It’s obvious there’s been some miscommunication,” he said in a calmer voice, raking a hand across the back of his neck. “You thought I was out of town and I thought you were still in Iowa.”

That piqued Nathan’s curiosity. He got up from the sofa and went to stand beside Beth. “I’ve never met anybody from Iowa before. What do you do there?”

“She works,” Charlie answered for her, trying to preempt Nathan’s interest, then addressed Beth. “So we both had plans for the boat for the weekend. Now what?”

“Obviously one of us will have to find another place to sleep tonight.”

“Since Nathan and I want to go fishing, I’m willing to buy out your interest for tonight,” he proposed.

“Meaning what?”

“I’ll give you the money for a motel.”

He could see she wasn’t happy with his suggestion. Nor was Nathan, who said, “I don’t care if we don’t go fishing.”

“But I do,” Charlie told him, annoyed that the teen was willing to let Beth have the boat. Nathan was gazing at her as if she was an ally, not an intruder. Charlie looked Beth squarely in the eyes and said, “Since you’re only looking for a place to sleep and we want to use the boat for recreation, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to go to a motel?”

One thing Charlie knew about Beth was that she wasn’t obstinate. Some women might have refused to find another place to sleep out of sheer stubbornness. Not Beth. Decisions were made after careful consideration—a trait he’d admired in her.

That was why he wasn’t surprised when she said, “You can have the boat for the rest of the weekend, but I don’t want your money. I’ll find another place to stay without your help. Now, if you’ll take me back to Riverbend, I’ll get off this boat and you two can have it all to yourselves.”

Charlie had won, but there was no thrill in the victory. “I appreciate that,” he said. “We’ll leave right away.”

“Thank you.”

Unfortunately her gratitude was premature. When Charlie sat behind the controls and turned the key in the ignition, the engine wouldn’t start.

“What’s wrong?” Beth asked, hearing his unsuccessful attempts to get the boat running.

“I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out.” With that he got up out of his chair and headed outside. Beth and Nathan followed him, watching as he lifted a hatch in the deck.

“Well?” she asked when he didn’t volunteer any information.

“I need my tools.” He retrieved a gray metal box from the storage closet and again bent over the hatch. It only took him a few minutes to find the problem.

“Do you know what’s wrong?” she asked when he straightened.

“We’re out of gas,” he announced.

She didn’t believe him. “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.”

“How could we run out of gas?” she demanded.

Charlie said nothing, just let the hatch door slam shut.

“You didn’t answer my question. How could we run out of gas? Didn’t you check the gauge before you left Riverbend?” She was drilling him as if he was her employee, not the co-owner of the boat.

“The fuel gauge says we have a full tank,” he informed her.

She frowned. “So what are you saying? That the gauge isn’t registering?”

“Bingo,” he retorted, wiping his hands on a cloth rag. “There’s probably a short in the wiring.”

“Does that mean we’re stuck here?” Nathan wanted to know.

Beth answered before Charlie could. “We’re not stuck anywhere. I have my cell phone in my purse. I’ll call for help.”

“And who are you going to call?” Charlie wanted to know. “Ed?”

“He must know someone who could bring us gas.”

“I’m sure he does, but it’s not necessary,” Charlie told her. “This is a public waterway and it’s Saturday morning. I’m sure a boat will come by sooner or later.”

“That may be, but I’d rather not wait to find out,” she said, then disappeared inside.

As she walked away, there was only one thought going through Charlie’s mind. Time had been damn good to Beth’s body.

BETH FELT WEAK and her hands were shaking by the time she reached the narrow confines of the lower cabin. She collapsed on the bed and took several deep breaths, hoping her stomach would quit acting as if it were moving independently of the rest of her body.

Yet how could it when Charlie was here on her boat? Correction. On their boat. She was stranded in the middle of the Sycamore River with her ex-husband.

No wonder her stomach felt so unsettled. It had been a shock to see him again—a shock that was intensified by the discovery that he had a son.

When Ed had told her Charlie had never remarried, she’d assumed that meant he had no children. Why should she think any differently? Charlie had always been a man of principle. After all, when he’d found out their one night together had resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, he had married her, saying he would always do the right thing when it came to kids.

But they hadn’t had a child. The thought sent a sharp pain through her chest. She bit down on her lower lip, forcing the memory from her mind.

“No. I will not think about what happened between us, Charlie Callahan,” she said aloud. “I won’t go there.”

She couldn’t go there because she knew if she did, it would be like opening the lid of a jack-in-the-box and the pain she’d managed to bury for so long would pop right up in her face. She pulled off her pajamas and tossed them aside, hoping she could discard the memories with them.

Living in Iowa had made it easy to forget that she’d been married and divorced. No one there knew Charlie, and she had little contact with anyone in Riverbend. Leaving for college had given her the opportunity for a fresh start, a chance to forget the painful past and begin a new life.

Now she was back and her new life felt threatened. Would she be able to pretend Charlie Callahan didn’t exist? That they hadn’t been married?

Thanks to Abraham Steele, it wasn’t going to be easy, but she’d figure out a way to do just that. It would help if she felt nothing for him. She’d hoped that when the day finally came that she did see him again, she would be indifferent toward him. Now that day was here, and it was as if all those years spent learning to live with her mistakes had been stripped away. Instead of a responsible mature adult, she was once more a vulnerable teenager.

It didn’t help that he’d stood before her shirtless, his tanned flesh bulging with muscles strengthened by years of construction work.

As a kid he’d been lean. Even when the other guys who were River Rats had begun spending a lot of time after school in the weight room, Charlie hadn’t cared about building muscles.

And it hadn’t mattered to the girls of Riverbend, either. Charlie was cool. And fun to be with. His popularity had little to do with the size of his biceps. Every kid at Riverbend High knew that Charlie’s appeal was in his personality.

As Beth dressed, she tried not to think about the good times. She needed to remember that they had come with a price. But suddenly all the years she’d spent pretending she’d never been married evaporated as quickly as puddles in the sun.

Her marriage was no longer conveniently buried deep in the cellar of her mind. Its memories were right up front, pushing their way into her thoughts, begging her to remember that Charlie was her first love.

She took a deep breath and willed her body to be calm. She couldn’t think about the past. Not now. She needed to call Ed so she could get off this boat as soon as possible.

It was a good thing she’d brought her cell phone along, she thought, turning it on. In the right-hand corner, a light glowed, indicating the battery was low. She punched in Ed’s number, hoping there was enough of a charge left for her to complete the call, but she was out of luck.

With a frustrated sigh, she tossed the phone aside. She was stuck here with Charlie.

“Damn.”

If only she didn’t have to go back up on deck and see him. Time was supposed to heal all wounds, so why did seeing him again affect her this way? It had to be the shock, she told herself.

Theirs was an awkward situation, but she’d get through it. And as soon as she was back in Riverbend, she’d make sure their paths didn’t cross the remainder of her stay. No matter what Ed advised her, she would get rid of her share of the houseboat in the fastest way possible.

And as for those painful memories…she’d locked them away once before. She could do it again. She just needed to get away from Charlie Callahan.

BETH WASN’T GONE LONG, and judging by the frown on her face when she returned, she hadn’t gotten the answer she’d expected from her brother.

“Did you talk to Ed?” Charlie asked as she stepped outside into the sunshine. She’d changed into a pair of jean shorts and a yellow top that clung as closely to her curves as the pajamas had.

“My phone isn’t working,” she said, averting her eyes. “Battery’s low. So now what do we do?”

“I told you. We wait for a boat to come by.” With effort, Charlie tried not to notice how the fabric stretched across her breasts.

“Can’t you use the radio?”

“I’m not calling for someone to come give us gas when we’re in the middle of the river on a beautiful sunny day. This isn’t an emergency situation,” he told her.

“So how long do you plan to wait before you consider it an emergency?” she asked tartly.

“We have plenty of food to last until tomorrow if necessary,” he answered.

“Tomorrow?” Her brow wrinkled in a fierce frown. “You told me you’d take me back to Riverbend today.”

“And I will. You’re getting all worked up over nothing.”

“I’m not worked up,” she denied. “It’s just that I’m worried Ed’s going to wonder where I am. He’s expecting me to be at the marina, not in the middle of the river.”

“If that’s what’s worrying you, I’ll call him as soon as I get to shore,” he told her.

She shaded her eyes with her hand, then peered up and down the river. “There’s not a boat in sight.”

“Not yet, but there will be,” he stated confidently.

“And until then?”

“Until then I might as well make us some breakfast,” he said, getting up out of the chair. “Are you hungry?”

He could see the thought of eating wasn’t a tantalizing one. “No, actually I’m not.”

“Then you don’t want to join us?”

“No, I’ll pass.”

Charlie wasn’t sure she’d refused because her stomach was unsettled, or if she just didn’t like the idea of eating breakfast with her ex-husband.

“You go on inside. I’ll sit out here and keep an eye out for a boat,” she told him.

Charlie watched her lower her long slender legs into a lounge chair and thought it best that he did go inside. She was a distraction he didn’t need at the moment. Lucy was right about Beth having an effect on him. There was no point denying that he’d always been physically attracted to her.

But he was no longer a teenager. He only wished his hormones would listen to the message his brain was sending them. Beth was beautiful and smart, but she was not the woman for him. He knew it. She knew it. Everyone in town knew it.

So why did he still want her?

“THE PAN’S SMOKING.”

Charlie turned and saw that Nathan was right. He had set the skillet over the flame and forgotten about it. He switched off the gas.

“You’re not supposed to leave oil in a pan unattended,” Nathan told him.

“Who are you? Smokey the Bear?”

The teenager shrugged. “They taught us safety in the kitchen in ‘living skills’ at school.”

“Did they teach you how to cook?”

“Some stuff. Not bacon and eggs, though.”

Judging by the mess Charlie had made, it looked as if he didn’t know much about cooking breakfast, either. He’d already burned the bacon and over-heated the skillet.

“What about toast? Can you manage that?” he asked.

Nathan shrugged. “I guess.”

“The bread’s over there.” Charlie motioned to the loaf at the end of the counter.

With about as much speed as a turtle, Nathan ambled over to the counter and plugged in the toaster. He popped two slices of bread into the slots, then watched as Charlie cracked eggs into a bowl. All but one broke.

“I like my eggs runny,” Nathan informed him.

“Well, you’re getting them scrambled,” Charlie said, taking a fork to the eggs and whisking them.

“Maybe we should ask Beth to cook for us.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Charlie replied.

“Why not?”

“Because I said no.” He poured the eggs into the pan.

“She might as well earn her keep,” Nathan said.

“She doesn’t need to. As I told you, she owns half this boat.” He sprinkled shredded cheese and onions over the eggs.

“So this Steele guy left both of you the boat?”

“Yes.”

“Weird.”

“Yes, it is.”

“He must not have known she gets seasick.”

“Possibly.” Charlie pushed the eggs around with a wooden spoon.

“How come you don’t like her?”

Charlie paused to look over at Nathan. “What makes you think I don’t like her?”

“Duh. You were pretty rough on her.”

“Me? You’re the one who accused her of being a stowaway.”

“She didn’t tell me it was her boat. Is that why you’re pissed off at her? Because you didn’t get the whole boat?”

“I hope you don’t talk that way around your grandparents,” Charlie said, tempted to give Nathan the treatment his own father would have given him had he used profanity in his presence. “You could get grounded for such language. And just to set the record straight, I’m not angry at Beth.”

It was the truth. Anger was definitely not what he’d felt when he’d seen her standing there in her skimpy pajamas with her hair falling about her face in disarray. Bothered would have been a better word to use, but he didn’t want Nathan to know that she caused such a reaction in him.

“Who is she, anyway?”

“I told you. Her name is Beth Pennington. She was a close friend of my sister Lucy when we were kids. She lived next door to us.”

“Was she a River Rat?”

“Sort of. Your toast is up. Butter’s in the fridge.”

Charlie was relieved that Nathan had a one-track mind, and the task of getting the toast buttered appeared to be the track it was taking. However, the subject of Beth apparently held enough fascination for him, because he quickly came back to it.

“That must have been her titty-holder in the bathroom,” he said as he put two more slices of bread in the toaster.

Charlie could hardly believe that Nathan had used such a word. “It’s called a bra,” he said in his sternest voice.

At the memory of the lacy scrap of material, Charlie’s body warmed. Then he remembered what it had been like as a teenager when he’d seen Beth naked. Heat rushed through every limb in his body, and he forced himself to push such thoughts aside.

He needed to deal with the issue of Nathan’s vocabulary, not daydream about an old lover. “I don’t think your mother would have appreciated you calling one of her undergarments by that name.”

“I wouldn’t have used it around her.”

“Do the BDs talk that way?”

“I didn’t swear. I just called it a titty-holder. I suppose you’re going to ground me for that, too.” He stalked away and threw himself down on the sofa.

“Come back over here and finish making the toast,” Charlie demanded.

“What’s the point?” Nathan said sullenly.

Charlie counted to ten, then walked over to the sofa. He stooped in front of the teenager so they were face-to-face. “Look, Nathan, it’s been a long time since I was fourteen, and until I met you and your mother, I had no idea how to be a dad, either.”

Nathan didn’t meet Charlie’s gaze. He sat with his eyes downcast, arms folded across his chest, mouth tight.

“I want this six weeks to be a good time—like we used to have. You want that, too, don’t you?” Charlie pleaded.

Nathan nodded, but continued to look down.

“Great. Now, we can do one of two things. Continue on as we have been, or forget about everything that’s gone wrong this morning and start over. Clean slate. What do you say?”

He waited while Nathan contemplated his options. Charlie wondered what the big decision was, but knew better than to voice that thought. Nathan’s grandmother had warned him that trying to be a parent to a fourteen year old was tricky. He now knew what she was talking about.

When Nathan finally raised his head, his eyes didn’t meet Charlie’s, but looked beyond him to the galley. As they widened, Charlie turned around to see why.

Beth was at the stove. “Good grief, Charlie. Only you would leave eggs frying unattended. What are you trying to do? Burn up our inheritance?”

CHAPTER FOUR

BETH GRIMACED at the mess in the pan. “I thought you would have learned to cook by now,” she said to Charlie as he came up behind her.

“I know how to cook,” he told her.

“No, he doesn’t,” Nathan piped up. “That’s why he eats breakfast at the Sunnyside every morning.”

“I don’t eat there every morning,” Charlie said.

“Lucy says you do,” Nathan shot back, then made a face as he gazed over Beth’s shoulder into the contents of the frying pan. “That stuff looks disgusting. It smells bad, too.”

“Nathan, that’s enough.” Charlie’s voice held a hint of censure.

Beth reached for the pot holder on the hook behind the stove. “This isn’t going to be easy to clean,” she said, eyeing the scorched mass of eggs, onion and cheese that coated the bottom of the pan.

“Let me do it.” Charlie tried to reach for the frying pan, but she pushed his arm away.

“No. I want it done properly.”

“Properly?” Charlie echoed. “You think I don’t know how to scour a pan?”

“I know you don’t,” she told him, relieved to see he’d slipped a T-shirt on over his bare chest. It was less intimidating staring at white cotton than sunbronzed pecs. He was still standing much too close for her comfort, though.

“He hates doing cleanup. That’s why he never cooks,” Nathan added.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know how,” Charlie insisted.

“Throwing a pan in the garbage is not cleaning it,” Beth told him, remembering when they were newlyweds and he’d burned spaghetti sauce in an old pot. Instead of trying to clean it, he’d chucked it into their garbage container.

The look he gave her told her he was remembering the same incident. “That was then.”

“What was when?” Nathan asked.

Beth expected Charlie to avoid answering the question, but he didn’t.

“When we were kids, I once burned some spaghetti sauce in this big old black kettle that was well dented and looked like it should have been in the trash heap. So instead of wasting time trying to clean it, I threw it out.”

“It could have been scrubbed clean,” Beth said.

“Didn’t your mom get mad?” Nathan asked.

“It wasn’t my mom’s pan,” Charlie answered.

No, it had been Beth’s, and it had happened a long time ago, although standing here in the close quarters of the galley, it felt like yesterday that they’d stood side by side in the kitchen of their efficiency apartment. She’d cooked him dinner on the tiny two-burner stove with pots she’d found at a garage sale. They’d eaten by the light of candles stuck in empty bottles and made love late into the night on their pull-out sofa.

To Beth it had been like playing house, which was probably why it had been so easy to end their relationship. It hadn’t had the ingredients that made real marriages work—love and commitment. They’d been young, impatient and looking for easy answers during a difficult time. If only they’d waited, instead of rushing into marriage; so much heartache could have been avoided.

She didn’t want the memories that seemed to be worming their way into her consciousness. Nor did she want to be standing next to the man who provoked them.

“Excuse me,” she said, ducking between Charlie and Nathan. She emptied the contents of the skillet into the garbage, then put it in the sink, where she watched the water sizzle into a cloud of steam as it hit the pan. “This is going to need to soak for a while.”

“Does that mean we don’t get breakfast?” Nathan asked.

“You’ll get to eat,” Charlie assured him.

“When?”

“Nathan.” Charlie’s voice carried a warning.

“What’s wrong with asking if I get to eat?” the teen questioned. “I’m hungry.”

Aware of the tension between the two of them, Beth said, “There must be another pan we could use.”

“We?” Charlie cocked an eyebrow.

“Since it looks like I’m the only one who knows how to cook on this boat, I should be the one doing the eggs,” Beth stated pragmatically.

“You’re offering to make breakfast for us?” he asked in disbelief.

She really didn’t want to do anything for Charlie, but found herself saying, “Only because I need to protect my investment.”

“Not funny.” Charlie stepped around her and opened a cabinet. Out came a second skillet, which he set down on the stove with a clang. “Your offer is appreciated, but not necessary. I can make breakfast.”

Nathan groaned. “Oh, great. More burned eggs.”

Charlie gave the boy another glare. “Maybe you want to try cooking for us.”

“No, but if she’s willing to do it, why not let her?” Nathan answered, nodding toward Beth.

“Because it’s not her job to cook for us,” Charlie replied a bit impatiently. “And I would appreciate it if you would remember your manners.”

“What did I say now?” Nathan rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Forget I even asked. I don’t want any breakfast.” Then he stomped away, slamming the sliding screen door as he left.

When he was gone, Charlie apologized for him. “I’m sorry about that.”

She shrugged. “There’s no need to apologize.”

“He’s usually not like that.”

“Like what?”

He chuckled. “Come on. You know what I’m talking about.”

“He’s just being a kid. And an honest one at that. He said the pan smelled bad, which it did, and that he was hungry, which should come as no surprise. Teenagers are always hungry.”

“You’re defending him?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

“You mean, besides the fact that he was rude?”

“He was just being a typical teenager. Besides, he’s right, you know. You are an awful cook.”

“You think so?”

She glanced at the skillet in the sink. “There’s the evidence.”

“No, it isn’t. That could have happened to anyone.”

“Fine, it could have. Since you’re such a great cook, I guess I should let you get back to it,” she said, trying to sound bored with the whole affair.

“What does that mean? That you’re taking back your offer to help?”

“You just said you don’t need it,” she reminded him.

“All right, I lied.” He sighed in resignation. “You know I’ve never been any good at this kitchen stuff.”

She did indeed. Their marriage may have been brief, but it had lasted long enough for Beth to discover that Lucy and her mother had spoiled Charlie. He could barely put together a sandwich, let alone cook something on the stove.

“Maybe it’s time you learned,” she suggested with a lift of one eyebrow.

“You’re not going to leave me to feed a starving teenager by myself, are you?” There was a hint of a familiar smile, the one that had helped him cajole others into doing what he wanted.

She would be stupid to let it affect her. “Sorry.” She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m going to retire to my half of the boat. The air’s less aromatic down there.” When she started to walk away, his hand grasped her arm to stop her.

“Beth, wait.” Dark eyes met hers with an interest that made her breath catch in her throat.

“It’s been fifteen years. Don’t you think we should talk about something other than burned eggs?” he asked.

The feel of his fingers on her skin sent a tiny tremor through her. She slid her arm out from underneath his hand. “What do you want me to say, Charlie? That it’s good to see you again?”

“Is it?” She felt as if he studied every pore on her face, so intense was that gaze.

“No.” He winced and she immediately added, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

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